Schools

Fort Morgan schools getting deTour visit Thursday

Musical community-building workshop previously held here in 2015

By Jenni Grubbs

Times Staff Writer

Posted:
12/05/2017 05:45:36 PM MST

Click photo to enlarge

Getting kids to sing together, no matter the song, was one of the main goals of a deTour community-building workshop held Sept. 17, 2015, at Fort Morgan High School. Shown here, Own Trujillo of 2MX2 sings with students at that workshop. 2MX2 will be back in Fort Morgan on Thursday at Lincoln High School and Fort Morgan Middle School for deTour, along with DJ Full Metal, Isaac Slade of The Fray and brothers Goshen and Gideon Carmel.

Fort Morgan will see the return of the deTour musical community engagement and learning program Thursday.

Several musical performers and duos will visit Lincoln High School and Fort Morgan Middle School that day "intending to shine light on youth music education through experiential learning," according to an Re-3 School District news release.

Re-3 Assistant Superintendent Dr. Rena Frasco announced the deTour stop at Monday night's school board meeting, saying that she was "very excited" about it "hitting the road to Fort Morgan Thursday."

"It will be a full day with DJ Full Metal. Isaac Slade from the Fray is going to be at Lincoln and at the Fort Morgan Middle School, doing two assemblies," she told the school board.

Frasco said this was part of Colorado's new Take Note Initiative, which Gov. John Hickenlooper will formally announce on Thursday.

"Lincoln High School will kick off the Take Note Colorado Initiative and deTour on Thursday," Lincoln High School Director Vicki Davis also told the Fort Morgan Times, and Frasco credited Davis for setting up the deTour stop here.

First off in Fort Morgan, deTour will feature group sessions from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Lincoln High School with DJ Full Metal Jacket, 2MX2 and brothers Goshen and Gideon Carmel.

"DJ Full Metal will be offering on site lessons in scratching and hip hop on four portable turn table stations, three of which will be gifted to the school district at the end of the program," the release stated.

Advertisement

At 11 a.m., there will be an assembly featuring Isaac Slade, the lead singer of The Fray, at Lincoln High School

The musicians and DJ then will make a stop at Fort Morgan Middle School from 1 to 3 p.m., and there will be another assembly with Slade.

"Their whole aim, again, is just to shine light on youth music," Frasco said. "Besides DJ Full Metal, we are going to have 2MX2 and Goshen and Gideon Carmel, and so that really is representative of our student population. Gideon and Goshen are from the Congo, and members of 2MX2 are from Central America. So we're really excited to see that diversity when we are bringing in music programs for some experiential learning."

Frasco also revealed to the school board that CBS4 Denver would film part of the deTour's stop in Fort Morgan.

"Additionally, deTour intends to engage with the communities, organizations, and families though music and the arts," the news release stated.

As such, deTour will make an evening visit to the Fort Morgan Pop Up Community Center in downtown Fort Morgan, "opening up for just kids to come in and do some experiential learning," Frasco said. That starts at 6 p.m. Thursday at 218 Main St.

"Take Note Colorado is a statewide initiative to provide access to musical instruments and instruction to every K-12 student in Colorado," the release stated. "Take Note Colorado exists in recognition that music is a vital part of a well-rounded, vibrant education. Ensuring our students get the opportunity to experience and play music is a fulfillment of the cultural spirit of our great state, as well as a crucial investment in the continued growth of our thriving arts economy."

After the Fort Morgan stop, the plan is for deTour to visit three more Colorado school districts in late 2017 or early 2018. DeTour had been to several school districts on the West Slope earlier this fall.

DeTour previously came through Fort Morgan in September 2015, when the Flobots, 2MX2 and Lolita Casteneda offered workshops at Fort Morgan High School and then an evening concert in the Glenn Miller Auditorium.

"It was really cool to be in a town we've never been to," Owen Trujillo of 2MX2 told the Fort Morgan Times on Sept. 17, 2015. "It's cool to be playing some of these kids' first concert."

He'll likely be back on Thursday for the sessions at Lincoln High School and Fort Morgan Middle School.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.